
4 



5. ^•i^^. 



^^^v ^ 




t 

The " Home College Series" will contain one hundred short papers on 
a wide range of subjects — biographical, historical, scientific, literary, domes- 
tic, political, and religious. Indeed, the religious tone will characterize all 
of them. They are written for every body — for all whose leisure is limited, 
but who desire to use the minutes for the enrichment of life. 

These papers contain seeds from the best gardens in all the world of 
human knowledge, and if dropped wisely into good soil, will bring forth 
harvests of beauty and value. 

. They are for the young — especially for young people (and older people, 
too) who are out of the schools, who are full of " business" and "cares," 
who are in danger of reading nothing, or of reading a sensational literature 
that is worse than nothing. 

One of these papers a week read over and over, thought and talked about 
at "odd times," will give in one year a vast fund of information, an intel- 
lectual quickening, worth even more than the mere knowledge acquired, a 
taste for solid reading, many hours of simple and wholesome pleasure, and 
ability to talk intelligently and helpfully to one T s friends. 

Pastors may organize " Home College " classes, or " Lyceum Reading 
Unions," or "Chautauqua Literary and Scientific Circles," and help the 
young people to read and think and talk and live to worthier purpose. 

A young man may have his own little "college" all by himself, read this 
series of tracts one after the other, (there will soon be one hundred of them 
ready,) examine himself on them by the " Thought-Outline to Help the Mem- 
ory," and thus gain knowledge, and, what is better, a love of knowledge. 

And what a young man may do in this respect, a young woman, and both 
old men and old women, may do. 

J. H. Vincent. 

New York, Jan., 1SSS. , 



Copyright, 1883, by Phillips & Hunt, New York. 



lomt €olhQt S>txu&. ^nmhtx ^btg-four. 



THOMAS CHALMERS. 



Thomas Chalmers was born at Anstruther, Scotland, on 
the 17 th of March, 1780. His father was a prosperous mer- 
chant. His grandfather and great-grandfather were Pres- 
byterian clergymen. The former won local distinction as an 
able and eloquent preacher. Thus it appears that the ances- 
tors of Thomas Chalmers, though neither nobly born nor 
exceptionally rich, nor remarkably distinguished, were em- 
inently respectable, thrifty, and highly esteemed. 

The child-life of Thomas Chalmers was not nurtured with 
that watchful parental interest which every child has a right 
to claim. His home was cheerful, and a spirit of piety 
reigned over it; but the care of fourteen children compelled 
his mother to surrender him almost entirely to the charge of 
a nurse in whom she confided, but who was morally incom- 
petent to win his affections, or to train him aright. His 
father, wholly engrossed in business, gave little personal 
attention to the unfolding of his mind. His early childhood 
was not, therefore, very happily spent, and when he was sent, 
at a very early age, to the parish school, his teachers were 
by no means qualified to direct his studies, quicken his intel- 
lect, or wisely guide the development of his character. Hap- 
pily, however, both for himself and mankind, his natural 
disposition was such as to keep him from suffering the full 
effects of this defective teaching. His strong, active mind 
enabled him to get his lessons with very little application 
whenever he chose to do so, which was not always the case, 
since he was notably idle. He was so merry-hearted, so full 
of glee, caused by his superior bodily strength and his exu- 
berant spirits, that he soon forgot the rough treatment of his 
teachers in the frolics of the play-ground. He was very 



2 



THOMAS CHALMERS. 



generous-hearted, the champion of the weak when bullied by 
the strong. He loved boyish sports, but was averse to mis- 
chief and to rough play inspired by angry passions. Faults 
and follies marked his early life, but it was remarkably free 
from all vicious tendencies. 

His imagination made him a reader. The Bible, " Pilgrim's 
Progress, 55 and kindred works attracted him, and led him to 
declare his childish purpose to be a minister like his grand- 
father. He illustrated this purpose and his own kind dispo- 
sition at times by mounting a chair, preaching most vigor- 
ously to a schoolmate, and selecting for his first text, "Let 
brotherly love continue. 55 

When he was scarcely twelve years old he was sent to the 
" United College of St. Andrew 5 s, 55 very poorly fitted to enter 
upon its course of study. During his first two sessions he 
was more an indolent, sport-loving boy than a diligent, prom- 
ising student. As at school so at college, when he did apply 
himself his superior intellectual power declared itself. But 
when he entered on the studies of his third session the mag- 
netic influence of Dr. Brown, his mathematical teacher, 
quickened his slumbering intellect into lasting life. The 
idle, indifferent lad was transformed into an enthusiastic, 
persistent, successful student. Geometry was his favorite 
study, and his absorbing devotion to it contributed largely 
to the development and training of his great intellect. 

After finishing his college course he entered Divinity Hall 
to study theology. He was only sixteen years old. Yet 
such had been the recent rapid growth of his mind, that he 
was intellectually competent to pursue its prescribed course. 
Unfortunately, while in the college he had imbibed some 
false philosophical opinions and some unfounded prejudices 
against evangelical views of truth. Yet he was not a skep- 
tic. His view of God, though not in harmony with the 
Gospel, was nevertheless grand, and at times filled his soul 
with profound and rapturous emotions. And the prayers 



THOMAS CHALMERS. 



3 



which he offered in his turn in the public hall were so elo- 
quent and original as to attract the people of the town to the 
hall "when they knew that Chalmers was to pray." His 
compositions were equally remarkable, and before his theo- 
logical studies were finished very few doubted either the 
greatness of his intellect or of his coming career. 

To lighten his father's pecuniary burdens, Chalmers spent 
part of his last Divinity Hall term as tutQr in a private fam- 
ily. But being treated as an inferior by his haughty, purse- 
proud employer, the disgusted young tutor brought the 
engagement to an end after a few months of service. Before 
he was nineteen years old he applied to his Presbytery for 
license to preach. He was under the prescribed age; never- 
theless, favored by an old rule which excepted persons of 
" rare and singular qualities " from the customary statute, he 
was licensed on the 31st of July, 1799 — a mere lad in age,, 
but a full-grown man in intellect. 

After spending some time at Edinburgh in mathematical 
and philosophical studies, we next find Chalmers, in 1803, 
filling the chair of Assistant Mathematical Professor at St. 
Andrew's, and doing the duties of a pastor in the neighbor- 
ing parish of Kilmany, to which living he was elected in 
1803. In his college chair he soon became the idol of his 
pupils, and the envy of some of his fellow-professors; in his 
parish he was highly esteemed, but not appreciated, for the 
reason that his discourses, though grand and eloquent, were 
the cold productions of his great intellect, uninspired by the 
love of Christ, to which as yet he had not opened his affec- 
tions. 

But a mighty and lasting change came over him when he 
was twenty-nine years old. Then a long, painful, dangerous, 
sickness placed him face to face with Death. In that dread 
presence his past life " looked like a feverish dream, the 
fruitless chasing of a shadow." He had been fascinated by 
" the life that now is." He had not earnestly sought those 



4 



THOMAS CHALMERS, 



more important things which are unseen. He had at times 
adored God as his Creator and Lord, but had never loved 
him as his Redeemer and Saviour. His religion had been 
intellectual, not spiritual. Though outwardly moral, his life 
had not been consciously guided by the divine Will. He had, 
in fact, never been " born again." Hence he now found him- 
self without peace, without hope, without courage to enter 
on the mysterious gate-way to eternity. 

It has been already stated that this great man's mind w^as 
strongly prejudiced, while he was a student at St. Andrew's, 
against evangelical views of the plan of salvation. The 
leading minds in the Scottish Church were at that time very 
hostile to the humble few in its ministry who believed in the 
doctrine of salvation by faith only. Having imbibed the , 
views of the former, Chalmers now struggled hard and vainly 
through many months to find peace of conscience and power 
to conquer sin. His wrong opinions shrouded him in mist. 
He strove mightily against the evil in his heart; he even 
looked to the Christ for help; but so long as he regarded his 
own works as merits to be ranked with Christ as the ground 
of his justification, instead of gaining peace, his conscience 
became more and more turbulent. At last, however, chiefly 
through reading Wilberforce's " Practical View," he was led 
to see Christ as the sinner's only and complete Saviour. 
Guided by this scriptural light, his strong mind finally trusted 
no more in its own repentance, or virtues, or prayers, but 
solely in Christ. That simple faith brought a hitherto un- 
known joy into his swelling heart. He could then confidently 
cry, " Abba Father ! " And the Holy Spirit which begat 
that cry also gave him power to keep his Lord's command- 
ments; and then his outward life, conventionally correct be- 
fore, grew into the beauty which springs from the graces 
with which the Divine Spirit ornaments the man who believes 
in Christ, as Chalmers now did, with all his heart. 

The effect of this mighty transformation on his ministerial 



THOMAS CHALMERS. 



5 



work was decided, not to say marvelous. Before it occurred 
his services, though faithfully rendered as usage required, 
had been given in a perfunctory spirit. The care of his peo- 
ple's souls had not occupied his thoughts, which had been 
largely engrossed by his scientific studies and his duties as 
professor at St. Andrew's. His preaching, though able and 
sometimes surpassingly eloquent, was powerless to win even 
admiration from the rustics who made up the bulk of his 
congregations. If moved by it at all, it was only to a sort of 
stupid wonder at streams of eloquent words they could not 
understand. His pastoral duties had been done with like 
indifference to their proper spiritual aims. He had put no 
spiritual sympathy into them. For these reasons, despite his 
genius, his learning, his intellectual greatness, and his con- 
stantly increasing and widening reputation, he had been un- 
popular in his parish. 

But when in the summer of 1810 he emerged from his sick 
chamber " a muffled invalid," and made a round of calls on 
the bereaved, the sick, and the dying members of his parish, 
his tender sympathy, his lucid words, his impressive prayers, 
all so unlike him in the past, excited pleased surprise and 
many rumors. But when he entered the pulpit with a sunk 
and sallow countenance, looking like one who had come up 
from the portals of the grave, and who seemed to be still 
standing with his face toward eternity, his people gazed 
upon him with pathetic interest. They listened, too, with 
unwonted attention. They felt that a new spirit had fallen 
upon him. There was a life, a fire, a fervor, an earnestness 
in his words they had never felt in them before. As his 
strength returned his discourses, now carefully studied, be- 
came more and more impressive, more truly eloquent, more 
quickening to the conscience, more consoling to the afflicted, 
more stimulating to the affections, more instructive to all 
classes. Though frequently too profound to be fully under- 
stood by his dullest hearers, they were often sufficiently 



6 



THOMAS CHALMERS. 



simple to find entrance into the most sluggish understand- 
ings. All classes felt the thrill of his own great loving heart 
as he dwelt on his now favorite theme of Christ offered to all 
as their only and sufficient Saviour through faith. Very 
soon the church became crowded. His fame spread. People 
came from distant places, from Dundee, from Edinburgh, 
from Glasgow, to listen to his eloquence, which had its fount- 
ain not, as heretofore, in his intellect alone, but also in his 
heart, which was now beating in harmony with the immeas- 
xirable love of Christ the Lord. 

The success of a Christian minister can never be properly 
estimated by mere popularity. Its true measure must be 
sought in its ethical and spiritual fruitage. The preaching 
of Chalmers, unregenerate, bore no such fruit, but after his 
conversion it was eminently fruitful. Take, for illustration, 
the case of two young men who met one Sabbath a little be- 
yond the church after hearing him preach on the love of God. 
One of them, named Alexander Paterson, said to his acquaint- 
ance, Robert Edie, 

"Did you feel any thing particularly in church to-day? I 
never felt myself to be a lost sinner till to-day when I was 
listening to that sermon." 

" It is very strange," replied his friend, " it was just the 
same with me." 

This serious conversation was continued until, reaching a 
piece of woods, they wandered into its shades, kneeled on 
the fresh, green sod, and prayed for the mercy they needed. 
Their prayer was heard. Paterson became a valuable city 
missionary in Edinburgh, and Edie a useful, honorable, 
Christian business man. 

Other fruits there were of this grand ministry, both ethical 
and spiritual. Nor was his new power limited to his own 
parish. He made it felt throughout Scotland, by means of 
his pen, through magazines and reviews. He also became 
conspicuous as a public speaker on special occasions. In 



THOMAS CHALMERS. 



7 



every sphere to which he found access, he stood forth as the 
profound expositor, the bold defender of evangelical thought, 
and of those grand modern benevolences which had their 
origin in the broad humanitarian sympathies which are the 
legitimate outcome of faith in Him who died to atone for 
the sins of the world. 

Entirely devoted to his Kilmany parish, Chalmers indulged 
in no idle ambitions for a more important pulpit. But fame 
had so emblazoned his name abroad, that when a vacancy 
occurred in the Tron Church, Glasgow, the most spiritually 
minded men, both lay and clerical, of that city began advo- 
cating his election to that important parish. Some of his 
warmest admirers consulted him, entreated him to express a 
wish to be elected, and to give a promise that if elected he 
would accept. But the noble-minded man refused most ab- 
solutely to do either. The most he could be persuaded to 
say was that, if elected, he would take the matter into seri- 
ous consideration. The larger salary he would receive, and 
the superior importance of the parish, he would not permit 
to have any decisive influence on his final determination. 
The preponderating question in his mind was, " Is it God's 
will that I should leave Kilmany, and go to Glasgow?" In 
this noble, lofty, yet humble attitude of mind, he quietly 
waited the action of the electors of the Tron Church. 

His friends, though regretting, could not help respecting 
this determination. They knew the strength, the bitterness, 
the intensity of the opposition to his election. The civic 
authorities, led by the lord provost, the great officers of the 
State, the representatives of the English court, the crown 
lawyers, with the lord advocate at their head, and the ration- 
alistic clergy were all leagued against him. The war-cry of 
the last-named parties was, "Much learning and religion 
has made Chalmers mad." To this saying, which was 
attributed to Principal Dolt, the evangelical men pungently 
retorted: 



8 



THOMAS CHALMERS. 



" That remark comes well from him. It is notorious to 
every one that his head is in no danger." 

The supporters of Chalmers were, however, too strong in 
their candidate to be so easily defeated. His greatness of 
mind and character, his surpassing eloquence, and sound 
piety were recognized. Hence, they won the day, and then 
the city was in an uproar of joy. People of all classes 
joined in one shout of exultation. Men ran through a heavy 
rain to greet their friends and to say : "O! have you 
heard the good news? Mr. Chalmers is elected to the 
Tron Kirk." Glasgow had never been more deeply stirred 
about the choice of a minister since the day of John Knox, 
as on the day of Chalmers' election, which involved, not the 
mere triumph of a great, deserving man, but also the 
victory of a living Christianity over that emasculated ra- 
tionalizing gospel, then known in Scotland as " Moderatism" 

After weighing the question with much thought and 
earnest prayer Chalmers accepted this call. It "tore his 
heart-strings " to quit Kilmany, to whose hills, as well as 
to its people, " his heart was wedded." 

Some six months after his election, Chalmers, on the 21st 
of July, 1815, was admittted to his new parish. Despite 
the sneers of his opponents, who said, " O, as for Chal- 
mers, he is mad ! " he found himself in " a blaze of popu- 
larity," Crowds flocked to his church, and were both 
delighted and impressed by discourses of unrivaled and 
irresistible eloquence. Nor was the effect of his preaching 
mere momentary emotion, but lasting conviction and 
reformation of life even in many who first heard witk 
prejudiced minds. 

One illustration of this effect may be given here. A lady 
and gentlemen, on their way to his church, met a friend 
who asked them where they were going. "To hear Mr, 
Chalmers," they replied. " What ! " he exclaimed, " to 
hear that madman?" They rejoined, "Go with us this 



THOMAS CHALMERS. 



9 



once. If, after hearing him, you persist in calling him a 
madman, we will never dispute the matter with you again." 

The gentleman accompanied them. By a singular co- 
incidence, Chalmers had for his text the words of Paul ; 
" I am not mad, most noble Festus," etc. The sermon jus- 
tified the text ; and this gentleman was so moved by it as 
to enter upon a new life based on sound views of the ever- 
lasting Gospel. 

So rapidly did Chalmers rise in public opinion that, in 
February, 1816, the Senate of the University of Glasgow, 
by unanimous vote, conferred on him the degree of 
Doctor of Divinity. Shortly after he was elected to the 
General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church by the 
Presbytery of Glasgow. In the Assembly, which sat in 
Edinburgh, he delivered a great speech, of which Jeffrey, 
the greatest critic of those times, said : " It reminds me 
more of what one reads of as the effect of the eloquence of 
Demosthenes than any thing I ever heard." And, concern- 
ing the effect of a sermon he preached before the lord 
high commissioner on the Sabbath, a distinguished lawyer 
said : 

"At the end of one passage there ran through the 
congregation a suppressed, but perfectly audible, murmur 
of applause — an occurrence unprecedented in the course of 
the delivery of a sermon, but irresistible in order to relieve 
our highly excited feelings." 

The extraordinary effect of his preaching was seen during 
the year 1816, in the Tron Church, when he preached what 
are known as his " Astronomical Sermons " on Thursdays. 
These were delivered every two months, and took up two 
of the best business hours of the day. Yet, after the first 
of the series, in which he promised to show the harmony 
between the truths of revelation and the vastness of the 
material universe, the church was crowded to excess. 
Before the bell began to toll, the street leading to the 



10 



THOMAS CHALMERS. 



church was filled with a stream of people flowing toward 
the building. In that eager crowd were seen the gravest 
and wealthiest merchants of Glasgow, the busiest traders of 
the city, clerks, apprentices — all, indeed, who could obtain 
liberty to take two valuable business hours from their im- 
perious secular duties to devote to spiritual thought and 
eternal interests, presented in gorgeous language and blazing 
with brilliant yet solid eloquence. Equally astonishing was 
the popularity of these grand sermons when published. 
The magician of the north, Sir Walter Scott, had recently 
issued his " Tales of my Landlord," but these sermons sold 
with almost as much rapidity as those "Tales." In ten 
weeks six thousand copies were sold, and, within a year, 
sixty thousand copies were in circulation. Hazlitt said, 
u These sermons ran like wild-fire through the country." 
They were read by all classes, from the English peer and 
statesman to the Scottish peasant. Their literary merit 
commended them to men of culture ; their deep, religious 
tone and profoundly scriptural views of the kingdom of 
nature attracted and delighted the pious of all sects. 
Truly enough, Dr. Hannah observes : " Never before, nor 
<ever since, has any volume of sermons met with such im- 
mediate and general acceptance." 

Great as was his pulpit power, Dr. Chalmers did not trust 
to it alone for success. He was so profoundly convinced 
that, the preacher to be truly successful, should also be a 
pastor, that he resolved to ascertain, by personal inspection, 
the actual spiritual and social condition of his people. This 
knowledge he regarded as the basis of his ministerial labors. 
His parish contained nearly twelve thousand souls. He re- 
solved to visit them all as far as practicable. Aided by his 
elders, whom he soon trained to be his aids in this, to them, 
unaccustomed work, he entered upon the herculean task, 
visiting from house to house, from floor to floor, making in- 
quiries, giving wise counsels, and learning what he could of 



THOMAS CHALMERS. 



11 



their religious state and needs. That he might be left at 
liberty to look chiefly after their spiritual interests, he placed 
the administration of parish charities, heretofore in charge 
of his predecessors, in the hands of his laymen. He also 
organized parochial day and Sunday schools, and made him- 
self felt as a guiding mind in every department of parish 
work. The amount of labor he performed was simply mar- 
velous, since, with all this parish work, he kept his pen busy 
with essays on social and ecclesiastical questions, so original 
and profound, that they attracted the admiring attention of 
the leading men of the times, both in Scotland and England. 
But for his superior physical strength, the activity of his 
mighty intellect, and the intensity of his love for Christ and 
humanity, he would have been crushed beneath the tasks which 
he so freely undertook and so successfully accomplished. 

But even his uncommon strength could not long endure 
such incessant, exhausting labor. His parish provided him 
with an assistant, the eloquent Edward Irving ; his friends 
built a Chapel of Ease to relieve his over-crowded church. 
These were helps, but were insufficient to give him the relief 
required. After seven years he found that his pastoral and 
educational labors began to diminish that power to fix his 
thoughts in the study which he needed for pulpit prepara- 
tion. Hence when, in 1823, without the least solicitation 
on his part, he was elected to the chair of Moral Philosophy 
in the University of St. Andrew's, he accepted it at once, 
and resigned his parish in Glasgow. This act caused an un- 
wonted excitement, not only within his own parish, but 
throughout the city. All were surprised, many were grieved; 
some censured him; few really understood his motives at 
first. But, when it was perceived that his health was im- 
periled, that he needed the calm quiet of a university life 
to enable him to study certain great philanthropic questions 
which were closely connected with Christian work, and that, 
rightly or wrongly, he regarded a professorship, which gave 



12 



THOMAS CHALMERS. 



him opportunity to train young men for the ministry, as a 
higher station in the Master's vineyard than the pastorate 
of a single congregation, they submitted with as good grace 
as possible to the loss of his services. His popularity was 
not a whit diminished, and, when he bade farewell to 
Glasgow, his parishioners, though still grieved at what they 
esteemed an irreparable loss, retained undiminished respect 
for his spotless and noble character, and a glowing affection 
for his person. How T could it be otherwise ? His preaching, 
his pastoral work, his example, his writings, had wrought 
wonders in their city. They had elevated the lower classes; 
counteracted the infidelity of the cultivated and wealthy ; 
given respectability and power to evangelical thought, and 
led many individuals into experience of faith and love. His 
influence had also gone out beyond their city, and mainly 
contributed to a remarkable change in religious opinion 
throughout Scotland, turning it from the direction of an un- 
scriptural " moderatism " into an evangelical tide of religious 
sentiment and practice. 

Dr. Chalmers spent five years at St. Andrew's with eminent 
success in teaching and developing high Christian character in 
the students under his care. His reputation was constantly 
growing. Through his writings also he was recognized, both 
in Scotland and England, as one of the greatest men of the 
time. His outspoken advocacy of soundly progressive ideas 
concerning both Church and State stirred the enmity of 
many, but did him no harm. Neither did it prevent his 
election to the Divinity Chair in the University of Edinburgh 
in 1828 — a chair which he continued to fill until shortly after 
the great disruption of the Presbyterian Church in Scotland, 
in 1843, embracing a period of fifteen years. His greatness 
and his attainments were also recognized by several learned 
societies. In 1834 the Royal Society of Edinburgh elected 
him a fellow, and the Royal Institute of France a corre- 
sponding member. In the following year the University of 



I 



THOMAS CHALMEliS. 



13 



Oxford conferred upon him the degree of Doctor of Laws. 
The last two literary distinctions, says his biographer, " had 
never previously been conferred upon a clergyman of the 
Scottish Establishment." 

Lack of space, in a sketch so limited as this, forbids any 
description of his numerous pamphlets, essays, and larger 
literary works during his great career in Edinburgh. It must 
suffice to say that the former were very highly esteemed for 
their sound, broad, practical views on social questions, and 
the latter for their literary excellences, their profound expo- 
sitions of theological truth, and for their deep religious 
spirit. Passing over them thus briefly, we must now glance 
at Chalmers as the leader of the grandest ecclesiastical move- 
ment of his times. 

A great principle of Christian liberty had been coming to 
the surface in Scotland for a decade prior to the " disrup- 
tion " of the Presbyterian Church of Scotland, in 1843. 
The State claimed the right to sustain the presentation of a 
minister to a Church, in deliance of the Church itself and of 
the protests of the Presbyteries. It thereby denied the 
exercise of power by the Church on a purely spiritual ques- 
tion, making the presentation of a minister to a parish a 
civil act, and a refusal to accept him, by either the parish or 
the Presbytery, a civil offense punishable by the civil courts. 
After exhausting every conceivable method to secure the 
reversal of this principle, by the officers and representatives 
of the State, the leading advocates of Church authority in 
spiritual things deliberately resolved to separate from the 
Established Church and to organize a Free Church. 

This was not a purpose to be lightly formed or easily 
executed. Most of the Presbyterian ministers, if not abso- 
lutely poor, were mainly dependent on their salaries for 
their daily bread. Their manses were their only homes. 
Many of them had large families. To leave the Established 
Church meant loss of manses and incomes, an uncertain 



14 



THOMAS CHALMERS. 



future, the sacrifice of many friendships. And all this for 
the sake of a principle which might never find its applica- 
tion in their cases. So great were the sacrifices involved, 
that when the General Assembly w^as about to open in 
Edinburgh, in 1843, one of the best-informed citizens wrote to 
a friend, "Mark my words — not forty of them will go out." 

The Assembly met in presence of a crowd of spectators 
breathless with expectation. The preliminary services over, 
Dr. Welsh arose and read a protest against the claims and 
actions of the State government. Having finished the read- 
ing, he laid the precious document on the table, bowed to 
the commissioner, took his hat and moved down the aisle 
toward the door of the church. Dr. Chalmers followed him 
with a firm, quick step. Then other leading divines left 
their seats and formed the head of a procession which, in a 
few minutes, passed through an exultant, yet weeping, 
crowd. That procession numbered over four hundred men, 
who, by that act, severed themselves, not only from their 
ancient Church, but also from all their earthly prospects. 
No wonder the people of Edinburgh cheered, for they were 
witnessing as sublime a deed as was ever done by a like 
number of men. No wonder that, when an excited man 
rushed into Lord Jeffrey's room, exclaiming : " Well, what 
do you think of it — more than four hundred are actually 
out," his lordship threw down the book he was reading, 
and replied : " I'm proud of my country ; there's not 
another country upon earth where such a deed could have 
been done." 

In a large hall at Cannon Mills more than three thousand 
souls cheered for several minutes when Dr. Chalmers was 
named as Moderator of this Free Assembly. He had earned 
the honor by his eloquent advocacy of the principle of 
which it was the flower. He subsequently became the soul 
of the movement, which mainly owed its splendid success to 
the policy he advised and the efforts he put forth in its 



THOMAS CHALMERS. 



15 



behalf. He lived long enough to be fully satisfied that the 
Free Church was a fountain of blessing to Scotland. 

Fully aware that both learning and piety are essential to the 
largest success of the ministers of Christ in civilized commu- 
nities, the leaders of the Free Church made immediate prepara- 
tion to found a university. Chalmers resigned his chair in the 
University of Edinburgh and accepted the appointment of 
Principal and Primarius Professor of Divinity in the pro- 
posed college. As soon as it was organized he entered upon 
the duties of his chair with his usual zeal and efficiency. 
Henceforth his labors were abundant. Besides college 
work, he put forth a giant's strength in raising funds for 
the infant Free Church, in home missionary work, in writing 
for the Reviews, in completing his " Institutes of Theology, 5 ' 
in pulpit and platform labors, in much reading, and in close 
application to study. This incessant toil of both body and 
mind began to so tell upon his strength that, when he laid the 
corner-stone of his new college, he prefaced his magnificent 
speech by quoting these lines from Byron : 

"lam not what I have been, and my visions flit 

Less palpably before me." 

But what he felt and confessed, in his citation, was not 
perceptible to his friends. And he toiled on with no relaxa- 
tion of effort, no cooling of his wonderful enthusiasm, until 
1847, then two years after the disruption, and, early in the 
morning of May 31, he passed away unseen by human 
eyes. The majestic repose of his features showed that his 
death was not a struggle, but that 

" The cry at midnight came, 

He started up to hear : 
A mortal arrow pierced his frame, 

He fell, but felt no fear. 
His spirit, with a bound, 

Left its encumbering clay ; 
His tent at sunrise on the ground 
A darkened ruin lay." 



16 



THOMAS CHALMERS. 



For a summary of the qualities of Dr. Chalmers we have 
bo space further than to say that he is entitled to no mean 
rank among the greatest intellects of modern times. He 
had a creative genius, combined with talents, by which he 
gave practical forms to his grand mental conceptions. His 
industry exhausted his great physical strength. His enthu- 
siasm, which made his words flames of fire, came from his 
powerful intellect fused into white heat by a heart filled 
with intense love for Christ and with benevolent feeling 
toward man. His piety, though clouded somewhat by theo- 
logical mists, was, nevertheless, deep and abiding. His nat- 
urally quick temper was the source of his severest spiritual * 
trials ; but he fought it bravely and, it is believed, victori- 
ously. Humility was a marked trait in his character, and he 
retained it through all the brilliant success he won and the 
flattering adulation of his many admirers. He lived a truly 
great life, doing for evangelical truth in Scotland, though in 
& different way, what Wesley, in a previous generation, had 
done for England. Modern Christianity owes him a great 
debt ; and his name deserves to be held in high honor by all 
who love our Lord Jesus Christ. 



THOMAS CHALMBFIS. 

(THOUGHT outline to help the memory.) 

1. Birthyear? Birthday? Ancestors? Child life? His mother? His father? 
His nurse ? His school life ? Character as a boy ? Effect of his early read- 
ing? College life? Intellectual birth time? Favorite study ? 11 is theo- 
logical studies? Prejudices? Compositions? Public prayers \ 

% His first means of self-support ? When licensed to preach? Professorship? 
First parish ? Effects of his sickness ? Wilberforce's practical view ? His 
ministerial work after his conversion? Sources of his great popularity? 
Fruits of his ministry ? An illustrative fact ? Extent of his influence ? 

Z. Call to Glasgow? Opponents? Supporters? His strength? Result? Prin- 
ciple involved? In his new parish? Reception? A prejudiced hearer? 
Made Doctor of Divinity ? In the General Assembly ? Astronomical ser- 
mons? Their sale? Pastoral work ? Effects of overwork ? 

4. Return to St. Andrew's? Feeling in Glasgow? Influence in Scotland? 

Success at St. Andrew's? 

5. Call to University of Edinburgh ? Literary honors ? Works ? Principle of 

the disruption? What separation meant? The sublime deed? Lord Jef- 
frey? Moderator of the Free Assembly ? The soul of the movement? 
Resignation? New appointment? Toils? Death? Character? 



CENTS. 



>. 1. Biblical Exploration. A Con- 
densed Manual on How to Study the 
Bible. By J, H. Vincent, D.D. Full 

and rich 10 

3. 2, Studies of the Stars. A Pocket 
Guide to the Science of Astronomy. 

By H. W. Warren, D.D. 10 

a. 3. Bible Studies for Little People. 
By Eev. B. T. Vincent.. . ............ 10 

[>. 4. English History. By J. H. Vin- 
cent, D.D 10 

o. 5. Greek History. By J. H. Vin- 
cent, D.D................... 10 

j. 6. Greek Literature. By A. D. 

Vail, D.D 20 

o. 7. Memorial Days of the Chautau- 
qua Literary and Scientific Circle 10 

o. 8. What Noted Men Think of the 

Bible. By L. T. Townsend, D.D 10 

o. 9. William Cullen Bryant 10 

o. 10. What is Education? By Wm. 

F.Phelps, A.M 10 

o. 11. Socrates. By Prof. W. F. Phelps, 

A.M.... .... 10 

o. 12. Pestalozzi. By Prof. W. F. 

Phelps, A.M 10 

o. 13. Anglo-Saxon. By Prof. Albert 

S.Cook 20 

o. 14. Horace Mann. By Prof. Wm. 

F. Phelps, A.M 10 

\ 15. Froebel. By Prof Wm. F. 

Phelps, A.M 10 

j. 16. Roman History. By J. H. Vin- 
cent, D.D 10 

y. 17. Roger Ascham and John Sturm. 
Glimpses of Education in xhe Six- 
teenth Century. By Prof. Wm. F. 

Phelps, A.M 10 

). 18. Christian Evidences. By J. H. 
Vincent, D.D 10 



CKNTS. 



No. 19. The Book of Books. By J. M. 

Freeman, D.D 10 

No. 20. The Chautauqua Hand-Book. 

By J. H. Vincent, D.D 10 

No. 21. American History. By J. L. 

Hurlbut, A.M...... . 10 

No. 22. Biblical Biology. By Rev. J. 

H. Wythe, A.M., M.D 10 

No. 23. English Literature. By Prof. 

J. H. Gilmore . 20 

No. 24. Canadian History. By Jame3 

L. Hughes. 10 

No. 25. Self-Education. By Joseph Al- 

den, D.D., LL.D 10 

No. 26. The Tabernacle. By Rev. John 

C.Hill...... . 10 

No. 27. Readings from Ancient Classics. 10 
No. 28. Manners and Customs of Bible 

Times. By J. M. Freeman, D.D 10 

No. 29. Man's Antiquity and Language. 

By M. S. Terry, D.D 10 

No. 30. The World of Missions. By 

Henry K. Carroll 10 

No. 31. What Noted Men Think of 

Christ. By L. T. Townsend, D.D .... 10 
No. 32. A Brief Outline of the History 

of Art. By Miss Julia B. De Forest. . 10 
No. 33. Elihu Burritt: "The Learned 

Blacksmith." By Charles Northend. 10 
No. 34. Asiatic History: China, Corea, 

Japan. By Rev. Wm. Elliot Griffis. . 10 
No. 35. Outlines of General History. 

By J. H. Vincent, D.D 10 

No. 36. Assembly Bible Outlines. By 

J. H. Vincent, D.D..., 10 

No. 37. Assembly Normal Outlines. By 

J. H. Vincent, D.D . i v& 10 

No. 38. The Life of Christ. By Rev. 

J. L. Hurlbut, M.A . 10 

No. 39. The Sunday-School Normal 

Class. By J. H. Vincent, D.D. ...... 10 



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The 44 Home College Series "'will contain short papers on a wide range of subjects — 
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NOW READY. 



i. Thomas Carlyle. By Daniel Wise, 
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a. William Wordsworth. By Daniel 

Wise, D.D. 
3- Egypt. By J. I. Boswell. 

4. Henry Wordsworth Longfellow. 

By Daniel Wise, D.D. 

5. Rome. By J. I. Boswell. 

6. England. By J. I. Boswell. 

7. The Sun. By C. M. Westlake, M.S. 

8. Washington Irving. By Daniel Wise, 

D.D. 

9. Political Economy. By G. M. Steele, 

D.D. 

10. Art in Egypt. By Edward A. Rand. 

11. Greece. By J. I. Boswell. 

12. Christ as a Teacher. By Bishop E. 

Thomson. 

13. George Herbert. By Daniel Wise, 

D.D. 

14. Daniel the Uncompromising Young 

Man. By C. H. Payne, D.D. 

15. The Moon. By C. M. Westlake, M.S. 

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nen. 

17. Joseph Addison. By Daniel Wise, 

D.D. 

18. Edmund Spenser. By Daniel Wise, 

D.D. 

19. China and Japan. By J. I. Boswell. 

20. The Planets. By C. M. Westlake, 

M.S. 

21. William Hickling Prescott. By 

Daniel Wise, D.D. 
23. Wise Sayings of the Common 
Folk. 

23. William Shakespeare. By Daniel 

Wise, D.D. 
34. Geometry. 

25. The Stars. By C. M. Westlake, M.S. 

26. John Milton. By Daniel Wise, D.D. 

27. Penmanship. 

28. Housekeeper's Guide. 

39. Themistoclefs and Pericles. (From 
Plutarch.) 

30. Alexander. (From Plutarch.) 

31. Coriolanus and Maximus. (From 

Plutarch.) 

3a. Demosthenes and Alclbiades. (From 
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33. The Gracchi. (From Plutarch.) 

34. Caesar and Cicero. (From Plutarch.) 

35. Palestine. By J. I. Boswell. 

36. Readings from William Words- 

worth. 

37. The Watch and the Clock. By Al- 

fred Taylor. 

38. A Set of Tools. By Alfred Taylor. 



No. 

39. Diamonds and other Precious 

Stones. By Alfred Taylor. 

40. Memory Practice. 

41. Gold and Silver. By Alfred Taylor. 

42. Meteors. By C. M. Westlake, M.S. 

43. Aerolites. By C. M. Westlake, M.S. 

44. France. By J. I. Boswell. 

45. Euphrates Valley. By J. I. Boswell. 

46. United States. By J. I. Boswell. 

47. The Ocean. By Miss Carrie R Den- 

nen. 

48. Two Weeks in the Yosemite and 

Vicinity. By J. M. Buckley, D.D. 

49. Keep Good Company. By Samuel 

Smiles. 

50. Ten Pays in Switzerland. By H. B. 

Ridgaway, D.D. 

51. Art in the Far East. By E. A. Rand. 
53. Readings from Cowper. 

53. Plant Life. By Mrs. V. C, Phosbus. 

54. Words. By Mrs. V. C. Phoebus. 

55. Readings from Oliver Goldsmith. 

56. Art in Greece. Part I. 

57. Art in Italy. Part I. 

58. Art in Germany. 

59. Art in France. 

60. Art in England. 

61. Art in America. 

63. Readings from Tennyson. 

63. Readings from Milton. Part I. 

64. Thomas Chalmers. By Daniel Wise, 

D.D. 

65. Rufus Choate. 

66. The Temperance Movement versus 

The Liquor System. 

67. Germany. By J. I. Boswell. 

68. Readings from "Milton. Part II. 

69. Reading and Readers. By H. C. 

Farrar, A.B. 

70. The Cary Sisters. By Miss Jennie M. 

Bingham. 

71. A Few Facts about Chemistry. By 

Mrs. V. C. Phoebus. 

72. A Few Facts about Geology. By 

Mrs. V. C. Phoebus. 

73. A 'Few Facts about Zoology. By 

Mrs. V. C Phoebus. 

74. Circle (The) of Sciences. 

75. Daniel Webster. By Dr. C. Adams. 

76. The World of Science. 

77. Comets. By C. M. Westlake, M.S. 

78. Art in Greece, Part II. 

79. Art in Italy. Part II. 

80. Art in Land of Saracens. 

81. Art in Northern Europe. Part I. 

82. Art in Northern Europe, Part II. 

83. Art in Western Asia. By E. C. 

Rand. 



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